Tag: hwy. 62 art tours

“Heavy Shield” Native American Mural

10.5′ x 12.5′ Acrylic on Canvas

So we had just got our new studio up and running, and were looking forward to participating in the MBCAC Open Studio Art Tours 2014 for the first time. Our studio has a 16′ ceiling, so we could finally showcase large a mural in studio.

Both Echo and I love painting portraits, and I’ve always been passionate about Native Americans, so it was a natural choice to paint a Native American Mural.

“Heavy Shield” was photographed by Edward S. Curtis about 1904, somewhere in the American Southwest. His photo just touched me deeply.

Echo had just had her second son a couple of weeks before, so I got this one started, and then we finished it together. We also filmed the 10-day process in hi-speed time-lapse video, and the link is below.

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Larger Than Life Murals is proud to announce their new studio will be open both weekends of the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council Open Studio Art Tours, Oct. 25-26 and Nov. 1-2, 2014. Location and hours information soon forthcoming.

“This is a first for us, and we’re very excited,” says Linda Shrader, artist/muralist, and co-owner of Larger Than Life Murals.

Linda recently returned to the high desert, after living in Riverside for the past 5 years, and bought another home in Yucca Valley. “It’s good to be back in the Morongo Basin, we’ve been busy in our new studio and we’re very excited about finally being able to participate in the MBCAC Open Studio Art Tours this fall. Our new studio has a 16′ ceiling, so we can showcase some murals in studio.”

A life-long artist, Shrader has been painting murals over 12 years, and started Larger Than Life Murals in 2007. She and her co-owner and daughter, Echo Westover, have painted several murals in the Morongo Basin, including the Patriotic Mural on the Glen Realty building in Yucca Valley, and two murals in Joshua Tree, the Respect/Protect Tortoise Mural on the Joshua Tree Laundry building and Welcome to Joshua Tree on the Natural Sisters Cafe building.

In 2001, Linda served on the first Board of Directors for the Morongo Basin Cultural Arts Council. One of the board’s early visions was to create an Open Studio Art Tour. They did, and with the efforts of successive boards, many volunteers, and support of the patrons, the Hwy. 62 Open Studio Art Tours has become a big success here in the Morongo Basin, and continues to grow each year. Read more on www.mbcac.org